Christmastime is Here
by Zelda Ophelia
Summary: The traditional Castle family viewing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" has an extra guest this year.


**Author's note:** Written for the 2009 Yuletide Exchange for MaeveBran. Thanks to Elenna for the beta.

::

Hanging up the phone, Castle shook his head at Alexis.

"Still nothing?" she asked in a voice roughened by the wracking coughs she had been plagued with all day. "Sorry, Dad."

"It isn't your fault," he said, brushing her hair from her forehead in a thinly disguised move to check her fever. She was still warm, but not as warm as she'd been - the aspirin she'd taken earlier seemed to have helped. "You didn't ask for Paige to give you the flu."

"No, but your party was ruined because-" She broke off into a fit of coughing.

"Eh, party schmarty. There will be other Christmas Eves. And now this means we can do our New Year's Eve Party up even bigger."

"Dad, you haven't even managed to get a hold of all of the guests to tell them it's been canceled."

He gave her a wry smile as he tucked the old afghan, one he remembered cuddling up under on the couch when he was a kid, around her. "Don't worry. I'll take care of everything. You just need to get plenty of rest and fluids. And watch the Charlie Brown special."

"Did I hear someone mention Charlie Brown?" Martha asked from the stairs. She'd changed into something less sparkly, an old quilt flung over her shoulder like a cape. "I remember you used to watch that cartoon constantly at Christmastime. Every time it aired we had to be watching."

"Mom-"

"Oh, hush, kiddo. If Alexis is going to be picking up any of your old habits, this is one that isn't too awful. I'd hate to see her-"

"_Mom!_" Castle interrupted her, giving her a warning look before picking up their empty mugs.

"I'm just saying, kiddo. She could do a lot worse." She turned to Alexis, who was looking marginally less miserable and trying hard not to grin. "Scoot over, sweetie. Grams wants to watch, too." She didn't give Alexis much time to move, lifting her legs from the end of the couch and settling them back on her lap after she sat. "You know, when your father was a kid he'd try to act out some of the scenes."

"And, of course, you helped."

"Of course! It was important to encourage his artistic explorations." She leaned in closer, continuing in a conspiratorial tone, "I'd play the piano and your father would climb up on top to dance."

"You were Schroeder and he was Snoopy!" Alexis was grinning as her father returned. "C'mon, Dad. Do the Snoopy dance!"

"Thank you, mom, for that trip down memory lane. But I'm not doing the Snoopy dance," Castle said, shaking his head. "More hot tea, Alexis, or do you want to switch to something else?"

"More tea-" She was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Sorry."

"Not your fault you got sick," Castle said, dropping a quick kiss on the top of her head. "More tea coming right up."

He swerved through the kitchen, putting the kettle on the stove on his way to the door. Opening it, he found Beckett with one hand up, about to knock again, a bottle of wine in the other.

"Merry Christmas," she said, handing him the bottle.

"Lanie didn't reach you, did she?" he asked. "We've both been trying, and your phone was busy, so I-"

"Yearly phone call to my Mom's family," she said, giving him a quizzical look. "It doesn't look very party-like in there."

"Yeah, about that-"

"It's my fault," Alexis interrupted, following the statement with a sneeze. "I got sick, and Dad had to cancel, and he couldn't reach everyone, and I'm sorry."

Beckett glanced from Alexis over to Castle, biting her lip, before shrugging off her coat. "Then I guess it's good I already got my flu shot. Is that Charlie Brown I hear?"

Castle managed to catch himself before his jaw dropped, sending Beckett a grateful look. "Here, let me get that for you," he said as he took her coat. "We were about to start our traditional family viewing of the Christmas special; you're more than welcome to join us."

"Thanks." She swung her arms back and forth, glancing at Alexis and Martha before turning back to him. There was a look on her face he didn't quite recognize, one that wasn't already in his catalogue of Kate Beckett expressions. "So, I'm guessing this is more a soft drink crowd than wine."

"Yeah." He held up the bottle she'd given him. "Not quite what we're drinking tonight."

"Darn, I knew should have brought that bottle of Sprite instead," she joked.

"You can-"

"Nah, save it for your New Year's party. You are having a New Year's party, right?"

"It'll depend on the family health status."

"Good point." She looked over at the couch where Martha and Alexis were sitting. "Anything I can help with before the show starts?"

"Well-" He was interrupted by the teakettle whistling. "Tea? If you can grab some mugs, I'll get the water--"

"Sure."

To his relief, she remembered where the mugs were--he figured she'd been by enough for that. He pulled the kettle from the stove and pulled out a bag of the herbal tea Alexis had been drinking before showing Beckett the options. "We've got some herbal stuff that's supposed to be good for your throat, and some black tea. Or I can make coffee instead."

"This is fine, Castle," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "This is more than enough." She continued softly, "Though, really, I didn't mean to intrude. If this is special family time-"

"No, no. I meant it when I said you were welcome to stay," he said, placing his hand over hers. She bit her lip, glancing again at Martha and Alexis, and he quickly pulled again. "Unless you were just saying that for Alexis and didn't want-"

"No, of course not. I just didn't want to be a bother."

"Beckett- Kate, you're fine. We like having you here. I don't want you to get sick, but it'd be nice if you'd like to stick around."

"Like I said, flu shot. I should be fine," she said, giving him a small grin. "Here, I'll take this on in for Alexis."

It took a few minutes more to finish the rest of the tea, and he could hear Beckett in the other room talking with Alexis and Martha. By the time he joined them, she'd settled in on Alexis' other side on the couch, her party dress looking out of place with their pajamas and sweats as she laughed at one of his mother's tall tales about his younger days. He'd have to remember to ask which one it was, so he could deny it all later.

"So," he said, handing out the last of the tea before settling into a chair, "are we ready to start?"

"Sure," Alexis said, snuggling down under the blankets. He caught Beckett's eye over her head as he reached for the remote. Yeah, they were.


End file.
